“Pain was simply an inevitability of living, and I had to learn how to trust him with his own, as I trusted him with mine.”

“I hated myself, and the part of me that was cowardly wished for a simple solution: an exchange of pain for forgiveness. But life didnt work that way, and fucking up was forever.”

“And now he smiled at me. All teeth. The way only people who hadnt learned self-consciousnessknew how to smile.”

“The future is terrifying because it's full of stuff, not because it's empty.”

“Love doesn't just go away when it becomes inconvenient.”

“It's not what you do, it's what it means.”

“Fear can be a potent aphrodisiac.”

“When the power of the shift rips the human body apart and transforms it into its new shape, there lives a second, less than a second, a mere shimmer of time when the mind is without a home, no body...”

“He moves suddenly so that his hand is cupping my sex, and one of his fingers sinks slowly into me. His other arm holds me firmly in place around my waist. This is mine, he whispers aggressively. Al...”

“My self-esteem is Teflon coated, baby.”

“And now he smiled at me. All teeth. The way only people who hadnt learned self-consciousnessknew how to smile.”

“Getting caught is what I do best. It is either a natural talent (which means we can blame my family genes) or a well-hewn craft (in which case we can still blame my parents).”